Advocates for the Stratford area’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities are highlighting important Black-queer stories over the next two weeks, joining other local groups celebrating Black History Month in February.
Advocates for the Stratford area’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities are highlighting important Black-queer stories over the next two weeks, joining other local groups celebrating Black History Month in February.
“Many of the most important moments and developments in 2SLGBTQIA+ history is thanks to Black individuals – prominently Black queer women and femme people,” said AJ Adams, president of Stratford-Perth Pride. “Queer history is Black history.”
Stratford-Perth Pride is currently posting daily stories about Black 2SLGBTQIA+ people on their social media channels to increase awareness of their stories. Some of those people include:
- Marsha P. Johnson, a queer rights activist and one of the most prominent figures in the Stonewall Uprising and queer liberation movement
- Luck Hicks Anderson, a Black transgender pioneer and the first person to defend their identity in court
- Gladys Bentley, a blues performer during the Harlem Renaissance who was famous for being a Black lesbian cross-dresser.
- Baynard Rustin, a gay man who was an adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
- Angela James, “the Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey” and first woman and first gay player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Monday’s post featured Toronto-St. Paul’s MPP Jill Andrew, the first Black-queer person elected to Queen’s Park. Elected in 2018, Andrew is currently the Ontario NDP’s culture and women’s issues critic.
“Race, sexuality and gender identity are not mutually exclusive identities,” Adams said. “Our past, present and future must include an intersectional lens.”
Elsewhere in Stratford’s social media circles, the city has recognized the contributions of Joseph Christopher Harrison, a Black man who escaped slavery in the United States and established himself as a well-respected farmer and businessman in Southwestern Ontario.
The Stratford Festival and the Stratford Public Library have also curated content specifically for Black History Month.
A filmed Stratford Festival performance of Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman made its streaming debut on Stratfest@Home Thursdaypart of a collection of theater works that feature Black stories told by Black artists.
Meanwhile, Stratford librarians have curated a couple of reading lists focused on the experiences of Black writers and filmmakers in Canada and the United States.
Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma also raised a Pan-African flag at city hall Monday morning in recognition of Black History Month.
“We encourage everyone to think about Black history – the struggles and the triumphs – not only during the month of February, which is Black History Month, but throughout the year,” the city posted on Facebook.